Two Step Abrasive Sharpener

ABSTRACT

An abrasive sharpener having a housing supporting a pair of sharpening slots having abrasive elements mounted therein. The bottom of the housing is formed with an open V-shaped groove for supporting the housing on the edge of a table, bench and the like. The bottom further includes a pair of flat bottom surfaces separated by the V-shaped groove for supporting the housing on a flat surface. The V-shaped groove is opened ended and extends along an axis generally perpendicular to the direction that a knife edge and the like is pulled through either slot for sharpening.

This application claims priority to provisional application, Ser. No. 61/069,649 filed Mar. 14, 2008.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to abrasive sharpeners, and more particularly, more particularly, to a two-step abrasive sharpener having a bottom V-shaped groove.

2. Summary of the Prior Art

It is well known to use sharpeners for knives having two steps of sharpening, namely a course grind and fine sharpening grind. One problem associated with such sharpeners occurs when a sharpening operation is performed on a surface, such as a table or counter. During the normal sharpening stroke through abrasive elements, the blade of the knife being sharpened often strikes the counter to damage the already sharpened blade and the counter. Such damage requires the user to repeat the sharpening of the blade. Therefore, it is desirable in the prior art to provide an abrasive sharpener capable of avoiding impact between the knife being sharpened and the sharpener support surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an objective of the invention to provide an improved two-step sharpener that avoids impact between the sharpener support surface and the blade being sharpened. The sharpener here employs two abrasive stations created by crossed carbide abrasive blades and crossed ceramic rods. The base of the sharpener of the invention includes a V-shaped open groove on which the sharpener base can be supported on the edge of a counter and the like during a sharpening operation. Such a positioning of the sharpener further provides for a more natural, comfortable sharpening stroke by an individual.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of two step abrasive sharpener of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the sharpener of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an bottom plan view of the sharpener of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an opposite end elevational view of the sharpener of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, there is illustrated the two-step abrasive sharpener of the invention, generally designated by reference numeral 2. The sharpener 2 has a housing 4 formed with opposite concave cut-out portions 6 (FIGS. 1 and 2) to provide handle areas to permit a user to grasp and support the sharpener 2 while sharpening a knife. A pair of upper slots 10 a,10 b (FIG. 1) are created in upper portion 12 of housing 4 and respectively have V-slots in the form of a pair of crossed ceramic abrasive rods 14 and a pair of crossed carbide abrasive blades 16. The abrasive rods 14 and the abrasive blades 16 are respectively mounted in slots 10 a and 10 b in a conventional manner well known in the art. The rods 14 provide a fine sharpening cut for straight or serrated edges as the blade is pulled through slot 10 a, while blades 16 perform a more course sharpening cut to a blade. The blade having an edge being sharpened is pulled across the housing in either slots 10 a or slot 10 b for sharpening while the handle areas 6 are manually gripped.

The bottom 20 of housing 4 has a pair of spaced flat base surfaces 22 extending the length of housing 4. The flat surfaces 22 are centrally separated by a V-shaped open groove or slot 24 that extends the length of base 4 generally perpendicular to the direction of movement of the blade being sharpened through slots 10 a or 10 b and has open ends as seen in FIGS. 1-3. The V-groove 24 includes a pair of sloped flat surfaces 26 and 28 lying at a selected angle, such as 90° to each together, and the surfaces 26 and 28 are of generally equal widths that are alternatively arranged to bear directly against a support surface (not shown) such as a table, counter, bench or the like, at its edge during a sharpening operation. Either surface 26 or surface 28 may be used to contact the edge of the support surface as desired. It should be apparent that the base is supported on either surfaces 26 or surface 28 of groove 24 as the sharpener 2 bears against the counter or table edge while the sharpener 2 is held by the user in one hand. The user can then move a knife (not shown) through a selected slot 10 a or slot 10 b with the other hand. Because of the positioning of the sharpener 2 at the edge of the table or counter, damaging contact between a knife and a counter during a sharpening stroke is avoided. Further, a more natural, comfortable sharpening stroke for the user occurs as a result of sharpener being on the edge of the counter or table. The sharpener 2 can also be supported on a flat surface by housing surfaces 22 in an orientation flat on a table, bench, counter, and the like. 

1. An abrasive sharpener comprising a body having a top portion through which an at least one sharpening slot extends along a first axis and opposite ends, said body further having a bottom formed with a pair of spaced continuous coplanar flat surfaces and an open slot extending continuously between said opposite ends between said spaced flat surfaces, at least one abrasive sharpening element being mounted in said at least one sharpening slot, said open slot is formed with a generally V shaped cross sectional configuration continuously extending between said opposite ends along a second axis, said open slot forming a pair of generally continuous internal surfaces and extending generally the length of said slot for contacting at least one of two angularly arranged support surfaces, and said first axis of said at least one sharpening slot intersects said second axis. 2-3. (canceled)
 4. The abrasive sharpener according to claim 1 wherein said V-shaped slot is open-ended.
 5. The abrasive sharpener according to claim 4 wherein said body includes an exterior concave handle area disposed between said opposite ends.
 6. The abrasive sharpener according to claim 1 wherein said first axis extends along an axis generally perpendicular to said second axis.
 7. An abrasive sharpener comprising a housing having opposite ends and having at least one sharpening slot extending along a first axis and positioned on a upper portion of said housing between said opposite ends, at least one abrasive sharpening element being mounted in said at least one sharpening slot, said housing having a bottom including a second pair of co-planar surfaces continuously extending between said opposite ends for selectively contacting a support surface during sharpening, and said bottom further including an open slot extending along a second axis adjacent said pair of flat spaced surfaces continuously between said opposite ends, said open slot being an open-ended, generally V-shaped internal groove extending continuously along said bottom of said housing between said opposite ends, said groove being formed by a pair of flat internal surfaces generally intersecting at 90° to each other and generally extending between said opposite ends to selectively bear directly on the corner of a support member.
 8. The abrasive sharpener according to claim 7 wherein said housing has a concave handle area exteriorly arranged on said housing between said opposite ends for grasping and supporting the housing while sharpening an implement.
 9. The abrasive sharpener according to claim 7 wherein said flat intersecting surfaces have equal widths.
 10. An abrasive sharpener comprising a housing having opposite ends and having at least one sharpening slot positioned on an upper portion of said housing between said opposite ends, at least one abrasive sharpening element being mounted in said at least one sharpening slot and extending along a first axis said housing having a bottom including at least one flat exterior surface for contacting a support surface during sharpening, said bottom further including an open internal slot formed on said bottom extending along extending axis between said opposite ends, said open internal slot being open adjacent said opposite ends to form an internal groove having a generally uniform cross-section along its length, and and said first axis intersecting said second axis.
 11. The abrasive sharpener according to claim 10 wherein said uniform cross-section is formed by opposed internal surfaces generally extending continuously between said opposite ends.
 12. The abrasive sharpener according to claim 11 wherein said internal surfaces are flat and intersect at 90° to each other. 